- May 1, 2024
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SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jenny Zimmet gives Emily Jones kudos on a job well done after the SaltyFit beach bootcamp. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele MeyersPhoto by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit bootcampers welcome another member into the circle. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jenny Zimmet organizes her instructional cards prior to the start of her "What's the Word" team workout. Photo by Michele Meyers
The Millers watch as Jenny Zimmet demonstrates exercise options. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
Standing O: SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
Jenny Zimmet leads her class by encouraging them to stay in a squat. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
The SaltyFit bootcampers pose for a post workout photo. Photo by Michele Meyers
SaltyFit owner Jenny Zimmet. Photo by Michele Meyers
Ocean waves crashed against the shoreline as Jenny Zimmet greeted the boot campers before they jumped into another workout on the beach at Tom Renick Park. A little over two years ago, Zimmet relaunched her fitness business, SaltyFit, and she hasn't looked back since.
“We live in such a beautiful place,” she said. “To be able to come together with your friends, get a great workout on the beach, under the sun, with the ocean breeze and the crashing waves, is just amazing.”
Zimmet is a third generation Ormond Beach resident who attended St. Brendans Catholic School, where she met her now-husband, Ron Zimmet. She attended Seabreeze High School her freshman year and later graduated from Father Lopez Catholic High School. With an interest in science, she initially decided to enroll at Florida State University, but then transferred to Clemson University where she graduated with a degree in nutrition. From there, she became a weight loss consultant for Jenny Craig, followed by a stint as an administrative assistant for the Daytona Beach International Speedway to garner some experience in the marketing field.
For almost 15 years, Zimmet enjoyed a career in sales and marketing for pharmaceutical, medical, hospice and home health care agencies before retiring to spend more time at home with her family in 2019. During her career, fitness had always played an important role in her life. She was a personal trainer and an aerobic instructor, but always in a secondary capacity. In 2015, she started SaltyFit, but put the fitness venture on hold as her sales territory expanded and her family moved further away from the beach.
As a stay-at-home mom, Zimmet began working out on the beach while her teenage children were at school. During one of her workouts, she was
"SaltyFit truly is a safe place to set goals and crush them, no matter how big or small they may seem. She provides that safe feeling to everyone who joins her class, who walks by and to everyone she meets. Her kind and sweet voice is authentic and comforting and her constant cheering for others is the sort of empowerment we all need in our lives. Don't let her quiet voice fool you though, she is a fierce business woman with big goals. She reaches high and is the first person to make sure you're right next to her, achieving your goals too."
Emily Jones, founder of Women Making Waves
approached by a beachgoer and asked if she did personal training, to which she replied she didn’t, but that she would be starting up a fitness group and asked her to join. Tara Herzig was her first SaltyFit “relaunch” member and is still a member today.
“SaltyFit has been a passion of mine for quite some time,” Zimmet said. “When I retired full-time and I was on the beach doing my workouts, people were interested in taking class and that interest relaunched SaltyFit.”
Currently, Zimmet offers beach bootcamp and beach yoga classes weekly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Tom Renick Park and STRONG Nation and SaltyFit Skate on Tuesday and Thursday at Fortunato Park. Every class is taught by Zimmet or one of her hand-picked fitness coaches, and can be customized to any member’s fitness level and abilities.
This year, SaltyFit is also a wellness partner with the Mayor's Health and Fitness Challenge, which runs from Jan. 8 through April 4. Her classes will be offered at a discount to all of the challenge's participants.
“We have amazing members and coaches on board,” Zimmet said. “The sense of encouragement, support and empowerment, and community, is really beautiful. Everyone likes each other, even when we are doing burpees.”
One of Zimmet’s favorite things to do is to mentor members to become fitness coaches if they display leadership qualities, are passionate about their journey or she sees them being welcoming or encouraging to others. If they are interested, she helps them work on the process of their training and certification, eventually running their own class.
“I love to help leaders become leaders,” she said. “Not only does it help to nurture their passion but they are also able to help others which I think gives them an even more renewed sense of purpose.”
SaltyFit coach Aszur Morgan met Zimmet in 2019 but declined her attempts to entice her to workout. She did not join SaltyFit until November 2020 after she had lost 50 pounds and decided the next step would be to add fitness to her weight-loss journey.
In spring of last year, she became a group fitness coach.
“Jenny saw something in me that I never saw in myself,” Morgan said. “She asked me to be a coach and she would tell me that if I coached the class she would take it. I just thought she was crazy and just being nice. She just spoke so much life and motivation and encouragement to me that I’m really thankful for her.”
Visit saltyfitormondbeach.com
